Speaking to Which-50 last week Troselj said there is a big opportunity for California-based software company to expand its footprint in the Asia Pacific region.

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“The sorts of organisations that we target and that are looking to purchase Sugar are organisations that are looking to be disruptive in their own right. They are not necessarily looking for just a CRM system that everybody else would use. They are looking for a CRM system that would give them a competitive advantage,” Troselj said.

Mark Troselj, APJ VP of SugarCRM

Focusing on a broad range of verticals, SugarCRM clients in the region include Macquarie University, The Venetian Macao, Queensland University of Technology, Orion Health P&N Bank and The West Australian.

Veronika Mikhail, Senior Director of Marketing, APAC and Japan, added that SugarCRM clients value the flexibility and openness of the product.

The thinking being that challenger brands want to do things differently from their competitors, which they can’t do using the same out-of-the-box software as everyone else.

Troselj, the former local Netsuite chief, said business software makers had been slow to modernise their products compared to intuitive and user-friendly consumer-facing applications. SugarCRM’s flexibility and potential to disrupt commodity CRM providers is what attracted him to the organisation, he said.

“So many competitors provide solutions that are rigid and constrained, which limits a company’s ability to create differentiated customer experiences,” he said.

“The real opportunity for us is just beginning. It’s an incredibly competent CRM. It is very different to anything else I’ve seen in the market before.

“It’s a modern CRM on a modern platform that can be deployed in various ways. It’s highly customisable, highly flexible and integrates with many business applications.”

In the short term Troselj is focusing on hiring new staff, recruiting new partners and taking SugarCRM’s message to market. SugarCRM has been operating in Australia for around a decade and has a team of around 30 staff spread across Australia, Asia Pacific and Japan.